Man names fake companies after Game of Thrones characters, gets charged with fraud

A North Carolina man tried to secure millions of dollars in loans for fake companies with like names like Khaleesi and The Night’s Watch. Who thinks he’ll ask for trial by combat in court?

The U.S. Justice Department has charged a North Carolina man with fraud after he set up a number of fake companies, several named after Game of Thrones characters, in an attempt to secure $6 million in loans from the Paycheck Protection Program, which is meant to help struggling small businesses stay afloat and pay their employees during the coronavirus pandemic, pursuant to the CARES Act. It’s a scheme worthy of Littlefinger, although Petyr Baelish probably would have gone about it a bit more subtly.

The man, 38-year-old Tristan Bishop Pan, submitted 14 loan applications for companies with names like the Pan Insurance Agency (okay), White Walker (getting weird), Khaleesi (seeing a pattern) and The Night’s Watch (yeah, this is definitely fraud). The applications were supported with fake documents, including falsified tax filings. What’s more, the apps for Pan Insurance Agency and White Walker were actually approved, and Pan received $1.7 million before the government cottoned on to what he was doing.

They’ve since taken some of the fraudulently obtained funds back, but apparently not all of them. I’m going to assume Pan already spent some of the money on Game of Thrones boxsets and Longclaw replicas and the like.

To get specific, Pan has been charged with wire fraud, bank fraud, and engaging in unlawful monetary transactions. If things are going south at his trial, he could always ask for trial for combat, although we don’t recommend it. People have tried that and judges don’t seem to go for it.

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